Chapter 205
“What is this monstrous brat?! Get her away from me!!”
“?”
Neftis was merely licking her ice cream with an innocent expression on her face.
When Neftis didn’t back down, Belya, her fur bristling warily, began releasing poison from her entire body.
Crack! Drip!
The area around her, several meters in radius, began transforming into a toxic green zone.
Simon quickly pulled the other team members back. Loraine, startled, shouted,
“Professor, please calm down!”
A major incident was about to break out.
“…No way.”
Just in time, Belya’s rationality returned. In her mind, there was only one monster capable of such an aura.
“…Are you the Witch of Death?”
“Yup!”
Neftis answered with a sweet smile.
Only then did Belya seem to calm down. She collected the poison from her body and rose to her feet. Even the toxic liquid pooled on the ground was drawn into her feet and disappeared.
“…Ha, do you even count as a person? You look more like an absurd monster.”
Loraine’s brow twitched.
“Professor Belya! That’s far too rude…”
“It’s fine. Not like she’s wrong.”
Neftis, cheeks puffed out as she finished off her ice cream, looked at her and said,
“Anyway! No more troublemaking, okay? I had to endure every insult imaginable from the Elders just to recruit you! If you don’t cooperate any more, I’ll get mad!”
Neftis puffed her cheeks and pretended to be angry.
‘So, so cute.’
That’s what everyone else thought—but Belya, sweating cold sweat, looked as though she had seen a truly terrifying monster.
“They said you were a troublemaker, so I came in person! You’ll head to Roke Island now, right?”
“……”
Her wary gaze softened, and she let out a long sigh.
“Doesn’t look like I have a choice.”
“Kajan, guide her.”
Kajan nodded and led the way for Belya, who no longer resisted.
As their eyes met, Belya gave Simon a crooked grin.
“See you at school, Simon Follentia.”
“Ah, yes! Professor.”
After the two and the thief guild left, Neftis turned her head.
“Hi hi, first-years~!”
She jumped in place, waving her hand. Loraine gave a signal with her eyes to lift their heads, and finally the four who had been frozen stiff raised their gazes.
“Hehe, is it because you’re first-years? You’re still so young and cute!”
Everyone’s eyes momentarily focused on Neftis before dispersing.
“How are your injuries?”
“None, ma’am!”
They all answered loudly.
Simon, now familiar with Neftis, seemed relaxed, but the three behind him still looked visibly tense.
“Then go back to the dorms and get some good rest. You need to prepare for the opening ceremony tomorrow! The integrated second semester will be tough in many ways!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
All four of them bowed again and turned to leave.
Then Neftis added one more thing.
“Simon, stay a bit!”
Simon stopped in his tracks.
“M-me?”
* * *
Late night, Langerstine Street.
“……”
From Simon’s perspective, the tension was undeniable.
On his right was Neftis, and on his left was Loraine, walking side by side.
On the way, Neftis stopped by a street vendor and bought three more ice creams. She’d only ordered two, but the vendor, not recognizing her identity, gave her one more, saying her “little sister” was cute.
“Yum yum.”
Of course, Neftis was not the type to give up sweets to people hundreds of years younger than herself.
Simon, watching Neftis eat so heartily, turned his head.
A faint smile was forming on Loraine’s previously expressionless face.
“Did you have a good break?”
“Ah, yeah. You?”
“Eh, just lazed around at home.”
As the two peers exchanged casual chatter, they soon arrived in Camellord. Simon looked toward Neftis.
“But why did we come to Camellord?”
Having finished her ice cream, Neftis cast a facial distortion black magic spell on herself. Since many people would recognize her in Camellord, she had disguised herself a bit.
Smiling brightly, the now-masked Neftis said,
“To give you a gift!”
“H-huh?”
“You played a big role in subduing the Saint of Purification, right?”
Simon scratched his head awkwardly at those words.
“I wouldn’t say it was that big of a role…”
“If you and Kajan hadn’t handled it well, the damage would’ve been much worse. And considering your true identity and all the tangled interests, I couldn’t give you an award publicly at the school ceremony. But I couldn’t just let it go without any reward!”
Simon waved his hands in panic.
“N-no! You really don’t have to go that far…!”
“Take it while I’m being nice, Simon.”
Loraine spoke up with a smile.
“Kajan and Serne already received rewards of their choice. You’re the only one left.”
“Exactly! So, let’s go check if the item I ordered has arrived!”
Neftis waved both arms energetically and took the lead, with Simon and Loraine following behind.
The place they arrived at was the same shop where Simon had previously purchased a subspace.
The three were led down to the underground showcase where expensive subspaces were displayed.
“Welcome, Lady Loraine!”
An old woman wearing a luxurious mink coat and adorned with gold accessories on her neck and fingers appeared.
Loraine waved warmly.
“Been well, Stephanie?”
“As always, my lady! And this young gentleman here…”
Stephanie’s eyes sparkled.
“You’re the Keyzen student who bought the 4000UB subspace by Gellen Eclipse, right?”
Simon looked surprised.
“You remembered me?”
“Of course! A VVIP customer who bought such an expensive item right at the entrance ceremony! And finally…”
Stephanie looked toward Neftis, whose face was concealed by her distortion magic.
"That’s someone else’s face, but I assume you're Lady Neftis?"
“Ah! How’d you know?”
“Because you're with Lady Loraine, and there’s ice cream on the corner of your mouth.”
As Neftis touched her cheek, the magic dispelled. She raised her hand with a grin.
“Hi, Stephanie!”
“Greetings.”
Stephanie smiled.
“Feels like just yesterday we were two little brats running around the fields. Now this old lady is all hunched over, but Lady Neftis, you’re just the same.”
“Yup, yup! Those were fun times~”
The two grandmas took a brief moment to reminisce.
“Oh, right, more importantly, you came today for that item…?”
“That’s right! Came to check it out.”
“Please wait just a moment.”
Stephanie signaled behind her, and four staff members came carrying a large, heavy box.
With grunts, they set it down on the floor, and on the red cushion inside the enormous box was a single small necklace.
‘W-was this… overpackaged?’
Neftis approached and tried to touch the necklace.
But before her fingertips reached it, a ping! sound rang out as her hand bounced away. Instead, an enormous array of magic circles expanded into the air, each spinning at a different speed.
“Whoa!”
Simon and Loraine stepped back in surprise.
“These are all security devices. Alright, sign here, Simon.”
“S-sign? Where…?”
“Just inscribe any character in Darkness onto the rune I'll point out in the magic circles.”
Following Neftis’ instruction, Simon had to sign all twenty magic circles hovering in the air. It was so much that just finishing the signing left him a little worn out.
Once all the procedures were complete, the security spells lifted, and Simon was able to pick up the necklace.
He slowly raised it. A diamond-shaped artifact, resembling a white crystal, was attached to a string.
“Try putting it on.”
Simon carefully placed the necklace around his neck, as instructed.
“Next, infuse the artifact with your Darkness.”
“Understood.”
Simon gripped the artifact and poured in his Darkness. The artifact’s color shifted to a dark blue hue, and then it faded into the air.
“Wh-whoa?”
Startled, Simon tried to catch the disappearing artifact with his hands, but it was no use.
When it completely vanished from his hands, he stared at the air with a dumbfounded expression.
‘Did I mess something up?’
Seeing Simon’s expression on the verge of tears, Neftis and Stephanie burst into laughter.
Loraine, looking like she’d just seen the most spiteful adults on the planet, shook her head.
“It didn’t disappear, Simon. The anti-theft magic just activated.”
“Anti-theft magic? What’s that?”
“You might lose the necklace during a fierce fight, right? So now, it’s branded onto your body as a sigil. Check above your chest…”
Before she even finished speaking, Simon frantically unbuttoned his shirt. Loraine, who had been watching absentmindedly, quickly turned her head away.
As he unbuttoned and looked at his chest, Simon finally let out a breath of relief. Just as she said, a dark blue sigil was etched into his skin.
“All preparation steps are complete. Now, let’s test it out right away.”
Stephanie rubbed her hands together as she spoke.
“The usage is simple. Ignite the sigil using your Darkness.”
Simon nodded and channeled his internal Darkness to activate the sigil. It emitted a gentle, dark glow.
“The subspace activates in a wide area behind you. Focus on the sigil in your mind and try grabbing the air behind you.”
“L-like this?”
Simon extended his hand, and sure enough, he felt something, as if there were a wall behind him.
“Perfect grip! Think of it not as a lever, but as a sliding door. Now, imagine pulling it open with all your might…”
Rrrrrrrrrk!
“Pull it open!”
CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHK!
As Simon pulled, a massive portal more than 20 meters in length unfolded diagonally. It was large enough to fill the entire underground space.
“…Wow.”
“I modeled the design after Lady Loraine’s abilities.”
Stephanie explained, and Loraine responded with a subtle smile.
“This is a subspace made exclusively for undead use! If the one Simon’s currently using is 4000UB, then this one exceeds 100,000UB!”
Simon’s jaw dropped.
“You mean this has over 25 times the capacity of the one I’m using?”
He looked into the portal he had just opened. It wasn’t just a subspace, it looked like a vast open field.
“Exactly! However, it has no other functions like ejection or retrieval. It’s solely for storing a massive undead army.”
Stephanie smiled.
“Of course, you won’t find a subspace of this scale on the market. It’s practically priceless.”
Simon was too shocked to even say thank you. He just stood there blankly.
Stephanie turned her eyes toward Neftis.
“But Lady Neftis.”
“Yeah?”
Stephanie lowered her voice.
“Isn’t this kind of absurdly oversized subspace something only top-tier summoners use? Why would you give something like this as a gift to a first-year Keyzen student?”
“Hmm.”
A meaningful smile curled on Neftis’s lips.
“Maybe he’ll need it someday?”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters